Sheppard recommits to Eagles

Sheppard signs for three more yearsWest Coast defender Brad Sheppard sits down to talk through the reasons why he has signed for 3 more years

Classy West Coast Eagles defender Brad Sheppard is likely to be an Eagle for life after putting pen to paper on a deal extending his connection to the club for a further three years.

The popular half-back, a favourite with both teammates and fans, earned life membership last season when he racked up his 150th game, and will look to build on that tally when the new campaign kicks off against Brisbane on Saturday week.

“I’m absolutely rapt to have signed on for a further three years,” Sheppard said.

“The club has shown a lot of faith in me in the early part of my career and I feel like now I’m an established member of the team.

“I’ve got really good mates at the club and I have a good relationship with the coaches. I’m really happy to be able to play at this great footy club for a further three years which will take me into my 13th year.

“I’ll be 31, actually, when I next come out of contract, so I am just over the moon. We have the new facilities at (Mineral Resources Park) about to open up, I get to play at Optus Stadium in front of 50,000 fans each week. We have the best fans in the league, so it was a bit of a no-brainer in the end.

“To be able to knock it over before the start of the season is something I’m really happy about. What it means is that I can focus all of my energy towards football and winning games.”

The versatile Sheppard is able to play on opponents of varying sizes, playing taller than his 187cm and having the pace to match up on the quicksilver small forwards.

He has featured in the top 10 in the John Worsfold Medal in each of the last four seasons and was in all-Australian contention last year.

Sadly, a hamstring tendon injury suffered in the qualifying final against Collingwood rendered him unavailable for the rest of the 2018 finals campaign.